There are a wide range of 3D modeling programs available to choose from, each with varying strengths and emphasis. Licenses range from free and open source programs like Wings 3D to some which cost almost a thousand dollars per license, an example being Lightwave 3D.
Maya
Maya is produced by Autodesk and has versions available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. Although it is capable of polygon modeling, its design emphasizes NURBs-based modeling. It is licensed for use by all of the top 20 game publishers. A free trial is available and students qualify for a cheaper educational edition.
3D Studio Max
3D Studio Max is also produced by Autodesk and places a greater emphasis than its partner Maya on polygon based modeling over NURBs. It has been used in many games, including the recent Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning by Mythic Entertainment. Free trials and student editions are available.
Blender
Blender is an open source, cross platform 3D tool available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris. Blender ships with a built in physics library and supports python scripting for game creation.
Lightwave 3D
Lightwave 3D is a professional 3D package produced by NewTek that emphasizes animation to be used in television and film. Lightwave has been used in the production of movies such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight. A trial edition is available for download.
Poser
Poser is a program for character modeling and animation sold by Smith Micro. It's features emphasize ease of use and its ability to automatically generate walk cycles and automated lip sync to recorded audio. It is available on Windows and Mac OS X and costs $250 per license as of December 2009.
Carrara
Carrara is a $250 3D suite produced by Daz 3D which emphasizes its support for landscaping and imports from Poser. The price is as of December 2009.
Wings 3D
Wings 3D is a freeware subdivision modeler. It is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as in source code form. It has no support for animation, but can export models for other, more robust applications for that purpose.
trueSpace
trueSpace is a freeware 3D suite created by the Caligari Corporation for Windows. The most recent version is trueSpace 7.6, but the publisher has dropped support for it.
